Astronomer’s interim CEO Pete DeJoy stepped up to his newfound responsibilities after Andy Byron tendered his resignation following unexpected character assassination in the wake of the now-viral Coldplay controversy. Originally serving as the US tech company’s co-founder and chief product officer, DeJoy shared his first statement since the major leadership shakeup on Monday.
Over the past few days, the New York-based technology solutions firm shot to infamy as its former CEO Andy Byron and HR Head Kristin Cabot made shocking headlines after being caught in a cozy moment on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert in Boston. Despite their attempts to duck out of the frame, the pair was seen embracing though reportedly married to other people.
With speculations of an alleged extra-marital affair consuming the Internet, Astronomer responded to the scandal by putting Cabot on leave, while Byron ended up resigning from the company altogether.
‘Moving forward’ from the Andy Byron era: Pete DeJoy on Astronomer’s future
After taking over the top spot, Pete DeJoy addressed Astronomer receiving “a level of media attention that few companies—let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world—ever encounter” in a LinkedIn post. Noting how “unusual” and “surreal” this unwitting shot at fame has been, he admitted that while he never would have wished for it to happen for all the wrong reasons, their company had undeniably become a reluctant “household name.”
The new Astronomer CEO also directed attention to how the company had faced countless challenges in a near-decade of its operations. Despite being tested “time and time again,” DeJoy said they’ve only “emerged stronger.”
Scaling up, bridging the gap between the past and future post-ColdplayGate scandal
“From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room… And yet, we’re still here,” he wrote in his proud statement.
Although he briefly addresses the Coldplay scandal, he ultimately distances the company from it. Foregrounding how their original mission to support companies with Apache Airflow had expanded into a lot more, he said, “We’re privileged to sit at the center of our customers’ data & AI strategy, powering data pipelines behind in-game analytics of your favorite sports team, LLM powered chatbots for customer support, training AI for self-driving cars, and every mission-critical process in between.”
DeJoy then goes on to paving the path for Astronomer’s future. Having stepped into his new role over the weekend, the tech company’s co-founder promised that he was wholeheartedly committed to delivering positive results for their customers. Thanking the Astronomer team and their customers, Pete affirmed, “Astronomer’s foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written.”